Sexual assault is a form of violence that disproportionately affects women and minority groups. This can be seen from the rates of sexual assault on LGBTQ people. It’s no shock to me that simply coming out increases one’s risk for sexual assault. The article lists and explains the risk factors LGBTQ people experience including greater risk of alcohol and drug use, homelessness, poverty and lack of employment opportunities. It also explains the role myths about LGBTQ people play in the disproportionate rates of violence.

I found this article interesting because we give the #MeToo movement so much credit for allowing victims to share their stories and find support. However, the stories that get the most attention are those of prominent straight white women and a powerful male assaulter. I think the #MeToo movement is shifting in the right direction, but are we doing enough to allow everyone’s story to be heard?

Why is it that despite the staggering statistics on the rates of sexual assaults on minority groups the stories that get the most attention are those of primarily straight white female celebrities?

This video was released on May 15th, for the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. The video begins with audio of several reports of anti-LGBTQ violence from around the world. It serves as a reminder that in various parts of the world LGBTQ people are still the targets of prejudice and violence. The Pride Shield was created to show that if we stand together we can end the violence. It consists of 193 pride flags, one for every country in the world.

I believe the Pride Shield is an interesting concept and effectively symbolizes a solution to ending the violence. Imagine if all 193 countries took a stand against anti-LGBTQ violence, as the flags symbolically do in the video.

Do you believe the Pride Shield could ever be implemented? What cultural obstacles would we face if we tried to unite all 193 countries against anti-LGBTQ violence?

Personally, I feel that businesses, regardless of the goods or services provided, should be able to make decisions about whom to serve/service based on their own religious beliefs. I think that this couple chose to elevate this issue way beyond what was necessary, if you don’t like a business owner and their beliefs – why do you even want to give them your business? Perhaps I am looking at this situation from too much of a simplified point of view, but I think that it’s as simple as the signs you see on businesses everyday: “No shirt, no shoes, no service.” If business can turn people away because of what they are wearing, why should they not be able to refuse service to someone based on their strongly held religious beliefs?

As this has been a huge topic of discussion lately and I just wanted to see what others thought about it. Do you agree with the ruling? Why or why not?

Hi everyone, I chose this article this week particularly because in my gender-based violence class’ lecture we were discussing homophobic violence and this struck my interest. This article came based upon some statistics that were taken in 2017. According to this article there were at least 445 LGBT Brazilians that died as victims of homophobic violence in 2017.

The number 445 was broken down into 387 murders and 58 suicides. Because Brazil is already known as a violent country, Homophobia is not something that the laws are enforced against at all. In this country, LGBT community members were treated like animals because “gay people” were seen as the devil. Most homophobic individuals even believed that LGBT members can be beaten straight.

My question for everyone is, shouldn’t there be policies enforced against homophobic violence in Brazil? It is not fair that these citizens think they can beat someone “straight.”

A transgender, whom was advocating for the rights of the transgender community, was first kidnapped and then gang-raped by at least nine people in the Gulbahar neighborhood of Peshawar. The culprits also threatened to kill her if she were to say anything about the incident. This was an obvious attack on the LGBT community. They picked the victim up and raped them throughout the night.The following day after being released, the victim wrote in a complaint that was filed at the city’s Police Station however, they never registered the complaint or even sent the victim for a medical evaluation.

The Gulbahar Police Station rejected the victim’s claim and tried to accuse her of her “false” allegations of gang rape. The victim was then targeted for speaking up on the violence that went on against the LGBT community and was then warned not to take part in any future opportunities to advocate for rights of the transgender community or else she would be killed.

Question: Is it necessary to pose a threat so serious as death to someone who is fighting for their right to simply be who they are?

Picture this: You are looking out upon a scorched desert, humming the song your mother used to sing you to at night when you couldn’t sleep. As you hum this tune you realize there are many more sleepless nights ahead. You remember last night, like so many others. The memories flood back as you dab at the swollen eye you received from the men who beat and raped you, again. This is what you were running from; where you come from, people who are different, people like you, are better off being dead in most cases. Because you break down the barriers between man and woman, like your mother’s song, firm and unbreakable, yet soft and sweet. Because you are this other, Transgender, you were told to kill yourself or risk being killed by those you thought you could trust. Continuing on your journey you travel by foot across an endless desert to a neighboring country. The country of endless possibility, prosperity and most of all, safety. But sadly, this is only the beginning of your journey.

Transgender men and women already face impossible odds. They must steel themselves against wave after wave of hate, physical and emotional abuse, neglect, poverty, sickness, harassment and discrimination. They face a world that has no love for them, yet they cling to authenticity like a prayer. Transgender individuals in several countries across the globe are faced with the threat of death simply because they are living as their authentic and true selves. These individuals are unwelcomed within their home countries and in some vehemently criminalized, simply for trying to live as they are; as men and women. By increasing our knowledge about the issues transgender refugees face and trying to adjust the broken systems and laws that do this harm, we can play an active role in saving the lives of thousands of people coming into our country.

Transgender asylum seekers, immigrants, and refugees all share a common and pronounced threat to their wellbeing, mental, and physical health. Not only are they subjected to inhumane treatment when being processed into the country, once allowed in they are subjected to horrors such as forced sterilization. Transgender refugees are detained for months and sometimes years at a time, as stated by the International Detention Coalition. Harassment, rape, and physical violence run rampant in the detention centers whilst they await processing into the country. They are often housed with those of their birth gender meaning for example, trans-women are housed with men, leading to sexual harassment and often physical abuse. There is often abuse from officers that are supposed to protect refugees into the country as well. One account from a woman named Tania Cordova from Michoacacan, Mexico stated:

“They didn’t have no place to house me, and they decided that if I wanted to be in general population, I was going to be housed with males,” she said. “I remember one day I went back to detention, and there was a female officer there who was supposed to search us, but not see us without clothes. She wanted to see what a transgender looks like.”

The way the system is as of now, the government is more willing to repatriate or relocate individuals back to their home countries than to allow them entrance into the country. Senior Director for Programs at the Women’s Refugee Commission Dale Buscher explains that many LGBT persons are relocated instead of gaining the asylum though there are “76 United Nations (UN) Member States criminalize same-sex acts among consenting adults and seven of those states (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen, and parts of Somalia and Nigeria) maintain the death penalty for consensual homosexual acts.” In short this means there are potentially thousands of lives that have been lost due to repatriation, and relocation because authorities are not taking the possibility they are LGBT into consideration.

LGBT individuals that could potentially seek asylum are usually too frightened to reveal their identity due to fear of being turned away or discriminated against by officials. If asylum seekers are interviewed in a group setting, and it seems this is common, they may hide their identities due to this mixture of shame and fear. As Buscher states; “LGBT refugees risk having their claim denied if they are not able to speak openly about their sexual identity, how they were treated in their home countries based on that identity, and how it led to their flight.”. The fear that is a constant in the lives of these individuals doesn’t go away with leaving their hometown or village. Transgender people especially tend to be noticeably LGBT and yet are still turned away or repatriated back to their home countries. There seems to be a shift in blame towards the asylum seekers because of them hiding their identity, however this is an issue that needs to be addressed by those with the power to help instead of victim blaming.

These populations are overlooked and not taken care of in a proper way that shows them any human decency or respect. Until we change the way or immigration systems are set up and operated, more lives are going to be lost and shattered. We need to put legislators into office that don’t overlook or demean Refugees and asylum seekers coming into the United States. They are fleeing their oppressive countries to try live safely in the arms of this great nation and we are turning a blind eye to a people in need. They are being murdered, prosecuted, beaten, and raped because they are a little different from the norm. They are autonomous, emotional, human beings, simply because they look differently, sound differently, dress differently does not negate the fact they deserve basic human rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Evander Jennings is an Anthropology and International Studies double major with a focus in global diversity. Upon graduation he hopes to either work internationally, or on the home front to provide safety, aid, and support for those within minority groups.

About the issues of Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Commonwealth that we are discussing in class, I want to share this news that is at least hopeful.

Last week the High Court in Nairobi started hearing a case that may decriminalize homosexuality. This is a big step considering that as we learned in class, Kenya like other African countries inherited from the colonialism an absolutely retrograde and violating legislation against of the rights of the LGBTQ community. According to this report, currently, in Kenya law prohibits “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” labeling it a felony that is punishable with 14 years in prison. Additionally in 2016, Kenyan courts ruled that forced anal testing of men was constitutional, and could be used as evidence in a trial of men accused of homosexuality.

Undoubtedly, this is a triumph for activists of the LGBTQ community who have fought for many years in these African countries to change the misconceptions about homosexuality imposed mainly by the British Empire and the Church.

in 1984, It is issued by “the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate to answer certain number of issues about the current handling of specific law application of Hooliganism”.The homosexual behavior was included in the interpretation of “hooliganism” .In 1997, the Chinese government abolished the hooligan law, an act considered by most to be a decriminalization of homosexuality. In 2001, the Chinese Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list. The association’s evidence included a 1999 study that followed the lives of 51 Chinese gays and lesbians over the course of a year. The group found that only six of the subjects had emotional disorders.

In this article,we can see ,as for mainland China, well into the 1990s, homosexuality was considered both a crime and a mental illness in the People’s Republic. Gays were prosecuted under the “hooligan” law while the Chinese Psychiatric Association labeled it a mental disease.

Public attitudes are also changing, with many people growing more accepting of gays. The vast majority of educated, young people in urban areas have no problem with homosexuality.

Pop star Miley Cyrus recently revealed to several publications that she considers herself to be gender fluid and pansexual, claiming that she doesn’t label herself as neither boy nor girl and doesn’t limit herself to those labels when choosing romantic partners.

Pansexuality is not new, as experts say there have always been people who fall within the realm, but the term is unfamiliar to much of the public. By opening up about her own intimate choices, Miley has opened the minds of many millennials and drawn the ire of many less open minded individuals.

Either way, she has at least brought awareness to a topic that we’ll certainly become more familiar with in the future.

Although thousands of years,although the feudal ruling class acquiescence of homosexual behavior,but in the majority of the people,it has been treated as a non-moral turpitude, which makes homosexuals in all aspects of life have been influnced.(1)family discrimination,this discrimination is not only from parents sibling,but also from traditional marriage to deceive the public and forced to choose.since sexual orientation openly gay often experience family discord,they rejected various setbacks and failures.(2) school,workplace discrimination.Almost half of homosexuals show their almost daily verbal abuse by students;another study showed that many homosexuals are rejected by school,isolation,abuse. For adult homosexuals,since the private life of secrecy,it is difficult them to establish a good working relationship network with colleagues,which is very disadvantageous for career development .